Support Georgia Bikes! - They Lobby for Georgia Cyclists

(original source of image unknown)

Hot Topics and Crazy Politicians:                                      

There has been some talk in the local cycling scene lately about a bill introduced last year that would really impact Georgia Cyclists if were approved. Fortunately HB-689 never made it to the floor. However, Georgia cyclists have Georgia Bikes to lobby for our interests. 
 

Here is the discussion of bill that has caused some anxiety to some of us cyclists in Georgia.

http://www.legis.ga.gov/.../20132014/136618.pdf

Here is Georgia Bikes easy to read blog post regarding that bill.

https://georgiabikes.org/index.php/blog/322-hb-689-anti-cycling-legislation

I just donated to Georgia Bikes to help them continue to fight against politicians that come up with these silly bills and to help get us protection like the 3 foot law that they successfully won on our behalf. Let's hope that cycling in Georgia becomes more popular for commuting and for general fitness and well being, as well as, recreation with friends.

Donate to Georgia Bikes and let them lobby for you.

https://georgiabikes.org/index.php/support/donate-today

 

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Comet - Spinning Cranks

Route and Ride Data Links:                                           
Garmin - Ride Data
Stava    - Ride Data

Overall Ride Metrics:                                                       

Distance:  40.51 miles

Avg. Moving Speed:  18.5 mph

Moving Time: 2:09:26

Total Time: 2:18:20  

Ride Total TSS: 121.8 (0.754 IF)

Group or Solo:                                                                  

Solo

Goal:                                                                                 

Finish out the week with a good ride

Ride Description:                                                            

Fine day to finish out the week with my last day of vacation. I had a lot of times that I had to slow down and navigate around slower traffic or people that had the entire path blocked, but when I had an open path the legs were fine with cranking it up a bit. I am pretty content with the day and with the past week. Back to my typical structured training this Tuesday.

Lap 1: Time 66 minutes, Distance  20.2 miles, Avg Speed 18.3 mph, IF 0.75
Lap 2: Time 63 minutes, Distance 19.9 miles, Avg Speed 18.9 mph, IF 0.76

Weather:                                                                          
Partly cloudy, 78 (F), slight breeze on the return  

Nutrition Intake During and after the Course:             

18 oz from Bottle #1 water, BCAA, Glutamine, maltodextrin
24 oz from Bottle #2 water, BCAA, Glutamine
Hammer gel @ mile 20
Post Ride | Bottle #2 above since I forgot to load my protein drink and Powerbar Gel chews
Home | chicken and veggies

Bike:                                                                                  

Felt B10, Garmin 800, Quarq, Flo 60's/Michelin Pro 4's @ 110 psi

Overall Power Data:                                                        
Entire workout (155 watts):
Duration: 2:11:46 (2:18:14)
Work: 1203 kJ
TSS: 121.4 (intensity factor 0.755)
Norm Power: 166
VI: 1.07
Distance: 40.502 mi
Min Max Avg
Power: 0 523 155 watts
Cadence: 5 109 77 rpm
Speed: 0 27.5 18.5 mph
Pace 2:11 0:00 3:15 min/mi
Crank Torque: 0 1605 174 lb-in
Temperature: 69.8 80.6 73.9 Fahrenheit
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BBC Metric Group Ride

Route and Ride Data Links:                                           
Garmin - Ride Data
Stava    - Ride Data

Overall Ride Metrics:                                                       

Distance:  68.78 miles

Avg. Moving Speed: 18 mph

Moving Time: 3:49:24

Total Time:  4:10:14

Ride Total TSS: 230.1 (0.766 IF)

Group or Solo:                                                                  

Mike, Gary, Peter, Greg and me

Goal:                                                                                 

Group ride

Ride Description:                                                            

Fantastic ride with the guys today. It was a good thing that I was feeling good because I needed every ounce of energy I could muster. Each of the guys had some really good pulls at the front and a few other brisk surges scattered here and there. The high wattage spikes were not flukes and not technical issues with the power meter. Those spikes were me trying to keep up each time one of the gang put out the power. Even though there were times I felt like I was just trying to survive, I have to say it was a really good day riding with these guys and I enjoyed every moment of it.

Weather is getting cooler and the new BBC Metric route was a nice change this year.

Weather:                                                                          
High 50's start, 70 (F) finish, head winds starting about at the halfway mark.

Nutrition Intake During and after the Course:             

24 oz from Bottle #1 water, BCAA, Glutamine, maltodextrin
15 oz from Bottle #2 water, BCAA, Glutamine, maltodextrin
Hammer gel @ mile 20
Cliff Bar @ mile 30
Post Ride | 30 gram protein drink
Home | Turkey wrap

Bike:                                                                                  

LOOK 585,  Garmin 800, Powertap G3, Conti GP4000s @ 95 psi

Overall Power Data:                                                        
Entire workout (128 watts):
Duration: 3:56:12 (4:10:17)
Work: 1814 kJ
TSS: 231.1 (intensity factor 0.767)
Norm Power: 169
VI: 1.32
Distance: 68.78 mi
Elevation Gain: 1925 ft
Elevation Loss: 1925 ft
Min Max Avg
Power: 0 685 128 watts
Cadence: 1 154 71 rpm
Speed: 0 35.7 17.5 mph
Pace 1:41 0:00 3:26 min/mi
Crank Torque: 0 1690 150 lb-in
Temperature: 59 82.4 69.9 Fahrenheit
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Orange Beach and Gulf Shores Alabama - Coastal Cycling

Rather than post my ride data I thought I would share a few photos along Perdido Beach Blvd. (Hwy 182). The bike lane on the Alabama side is nice with a buffer between traffic with up to 6 feet of clearance to motorized vehicles. The dedicated bike lane is pretty clean with occasional spots broken glass during my visit, but I had no problems navigating around and at this point have not flatted. Our time of visit is during offseason so traffic is much lower.

Once you cross the bridge going toward the Florida state line there is just another mile or so for the dedicated bike lane and then it reduces down to a wide shoulder. In the stretch of road that I used I was able to get in my two hour efforts, which for me being on vacation was good enough.

 

 

 

 

Scenes at the Beach

 

 

 

Comet - Easy Spin

Route and Ride Data Links:                                           
Garmin - Ride Data
Stava    - Ride Data

Overall Ride Metrics:                                                       

Distance: 32.9 miles

Avg. Moving Speed: 16.4 mph

Moving Time: 1:56:57

Total Time: 2:02:28 

Ride Total TSS: 85 (0.65 IF)

Group or Solo:                                                                  

Solo

Goal:                                                                                 

Take it easy and enjoy being out on the bike

Ride Description:                                                            

The long ride yesterday took a lot out of me and I did not want to dig a deeper recovery hole so I just enjoyed being outside spinning the cranks.

Weather:                                                                          
 82 (F), partly cloudy, breezy

Nutrition Intake During and after the Course:             

24 oz from Bottle #1 water, BCAA, Glutamine, maltodextrin
24 oz from Bottle #2 water, BCAA, Glutamine, maltodextrin
Hammer gel @ mile 15
Post Ride | 30 gram protein drink
Home | Chicken salad

Bike:                                                                                  

LOOK 585,  Garmin 800, Powertap G3, Conti GP4000s @ 95 psi

Overall Power Data:                                                        
Entire workout (127 watts):
Duration: 2:01:07 (2:02:29)
Work: 925 kJ
TSS: 85.6 (intensity factor 0.652)
Norm Power: 144
VI: 1.13
Distance: 32.913 mi
Min Max Avg
Power: 0 533 127 watts
Cadence: 1 211 70 rpm
Speed: 0 26.3 16.3 mph
Pace 2:17 0:00 3:40 min/mi
Crank Torque: 0 1798 157 lb-in
Temperature: 71.6 82.4 76.0 Fahrenheit
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Speedfil Z4 Bottle Cage

Since getting the Felt B10 and building it up the one thing I could not get settled on was how to mount the torpedo bottle and at the same time have the Garmin Edge in a position where it was not going to be a strain to see the screen display. As shown in the Previous Homemade Mount below I ended up placing the bottle below the bars which does not reap the benefit of reducing drag like Between The Arms (BTA) where the bottle is tucked behind the forearms. My homemade mount worked well for the Garmin display as it was placed just a little bit forward for an easy glance down, but this mount also had some other issues in addition to catching more air. Lately the factory rubber bands that are used on the Edge mount broke on two occasions during a ride where I was lucky that the computer did not go flying off, but I did have to remove the computer while in motion and stick it in my rear jersey pocket. While trying to save money on factory produced mounts I had tried other types of homemade mounts and even tried just to zip tie the mount on the very front of the aero bars, but never could get comfortable as each had their own issues.

Searching the internet again I stumbled upon the Speedfil Z4 mount and it appeared to be exactly what I wanted and much more streamlined compared to my version that I recently tried to create in my shop. After trying a number of ways to streamline the front of the bike I was more than happy to spend some money to give the Z4 a try. I ordered the Speedfil Z4, Garmin Edge mount and the Xlab Torpedo mounting plate from Discounttrisupply.com. Just a note that the Speedfil Z4 comes with zip ties and can be fastened directly to the bars without additional cost. I purchased the Xlab Torpedo mount for mounting ease and fast removal.

I used the new setup yesterday on a 97 mile training ride so I got enough time in to say I am really happy now with the way the bike is setup for a long ride. I do not race and I really enjoy doing long endurance rides and using the Felt B10 with 3 bottles to rotate for a self-sustained century distance. The previous below the bar mount was super easy to pull the bottle out while tucked in aero position and take a drink. I was able to do this as well from the Z4, but just a little more difficult since the bottle is pointed backwards, but still not too bad. The standard notched neck cycling water bottle was locked in pretty good so no issue with the bottle being loose in the cage and I don't think that it will come out from a hard bump. There was some chatter noise from the computer mount tapping the bottle on rough pavement, but I think there is an easy fix for this. I have some self-adhesive Velcro and will cut a small square from the felt side and stick on the mount that will probable eliminate that chatter.

I really like the computer mount portion since it eliminates the need for the rubber bands. The Garmin mount simply presses in from the underside and locks into place. During the ride and even on the roughest pavement sections there was no vibrations in viewing the computer display. The best yet was the effect that I was hoping and that was having the bottle tucked behind my forearms with the display exactly where I wanted for easy viewing. With my setup the bottle was tucked, my hands shielding the front of the bottle and the top of the Garmin Edge was almost flush with the top of my forearms.

There are a number of types of other mounts that put the display behind or in front of the bottle, but the Z4 is exactly what I had wanted to achieve for how I wanted the bike to be setup. Finally I feel good now for how the Felt B10  will serve as a training bike for long solo routes.

Z4 Summary

• Easy to mount and position with zip ties
• Fairly easy to use while tucked in aero using a standard water bottle.
• Holds the bottle tightly
• Puts the Garmin Edge Display in easy viewing position
• No vibration in the Edge display
• Some vibration noise between the Edge mount and bottle (I think there is an easy solution)

Xlab Torpedo Carbon Mount

• Lightweight
• Easy to mount and remove with Velcro straps
• Very stable with almost no movement when straps are pulled tight.
• Provides more flexibility moving the bottle cage forward or back

Previous Homemade Mount:                                                                               

 

Speedfil Z4 Bottle Cage with Garmin Edge Mount:                                           

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Brewery to Chatsworth - Solo

Route and Ride Data Links:                                           
Garmin - Ride Data
Stava    - Ride Data

Overall Ride Metrics:                                                       

Distance: 97.3 miles

Avg. Moving Speed: 17.6  mph

Moving Time: 5:29:44

Total Time:  5:43:45

Ride Total TSS: 268.5 (0.7 IF)

Group or Solo:                                                                  

Solo

Goal:                                                                                 

Long Steady Distance (LSD) - Endurance Day

Ride Description:                                                            

Reflecting back on the ride and what to describe for this blog entry and I am almost too excited to write anything at all. My ride data posted may not reveal why I would be excited. It happens to be one of those times when you finish and you just felt great the entire day. I could have pushed a touch harder and I loafed at times like in the warm up lap there is some wasted time. I stopped for three nature breaks and even stopped to take some picture of the new bottle cage so I can do a blog review later. In all of that I finished close to 100 miles in 5 hours and 30 minutes. I believe I could have done a sub 5 hour century today and though I did not I just have this feeling inside that the legs were ready.

My intention was not to go for a personal best. Today I was just out doing a long endurance training ride and hitting the lap button at each 60 minute mark. Looking at the splits and other data I believe I kept a fairly steady effort start to finish.

I felt great today and right now I am really feeling good about how the training is going.

Lap 1: Time 13 minutes, Distance  03.25 miles, Avg Speed 14.7 mph, IF 0.69
Lap 2: Time 60 minutes, Distance 18.78 miles, Avg Speed 18.8 mph, IF 0.74
Lap 3: Time 60 minutes, Distance 17.49 miles, Avg Speed 17.5 mph, IF 0.72
Lap 4: Time 60 minutes, Distance 17.01 miles, Avg Speed 17.0 mph, IF 0.67
Lap 5: Time 60 minutes, Distance 17.95 miles, Avg Speed 17.9 mph, IF 0.66
Lap 6: Time 60 minutes, Distance 17.56 miles, Avg Speed 17.5 mph, IF 0.72
Lap 7: Time 18 minutes, Distance 05.26 miles, Avg Speed 17.0 mph, IF 0.51

Weather:                                                                          
 Awesome day, Sunny, cool start at 55 (F) end 79 (F), slight wind at times

Nutrition Intake During and after the Course:             

24 oz from Bottle #1 water, BCAA, Glutamine, maltodextrin
24 oz from Bottle #2 water, BCAA, Glutamine, maltodextrin
Hammer gel @ mile 20
Cliff Bar @ mile 30
Hammer gel @ mile 54
Post Ride | 30 gram protein drink
Home | Subway 12" oven roasted chicken sandwich

Bike:                                                                                  

Felt B10, Garmin 800, Quarq, Flo 60's/Michelin Pro 4's @ 95 psi

Overall Power Data:                                                        
Entire workout (136 watts):
Duration: 5:34:39 (5:43:51)
Work: 2714 kJ
TSS: 269.8 (intensity factor 0.7)
Norm Power: 154
VI: 1.13
Distance: 97.296 mi
                   Min    Max      Avg
Power:         0       526       136 watts
Cadence:     8      107         77 rpm
Speed:         0        36         17.5 mph
Pace         1:40    0:00       3:26 min/mi
Altitude:    645     926       765 ft
Crank Torque: 0    1503     151 lb-in
Temperature: 50    87.8    67.9 Fahrenheit
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Brewery-Salacoa Group Ride

Nine of us Rolling out early at the Cartersville Brewery

See More Photos At The Bottom

 

Route and Ride Data Links:                                           
Garmin - Ride Data
Stava    - Ride Data

Overall Ride Metrics:                                                       

Distance:  65.5 miles

Avg. Moving Speed: 15.5 mph

Moving Time: 3:49:44

Total Time: 4:13:02 

Ride Total TSS: 241.8 (0.77 IF)

Group or Solo:                                                                  

With: Kit, Gary, Neal, Mike Q., Craig, Keith, Glenn, Mike and me

Goal:                                                                                 

Survive

Ride Description:                                                            

I'm almost too worn out to write it down....whew!!

I thought when I showed up at the brewery this morning I would be joining three of my cycling friends and instead it turned out to be eight of my cycling friends and where there is more the pace may get a bit frisky at some point. And it did at times.

We had a bit of everything is this ride from easy pacing and chatting to some intense efforts and at points I felt like it was all I could do to hang on. The group split apart at Addington Road with five of us going a different direction, but we all met up again at the store stop. From there we hit a few more short climbs on some rough roads and then turned our general direction back toward the brewery. That is when the pace picked up even more and there was a bit of a split with Craig and Glenn pushing the pace up front. I ended finishing in the group with Kit, Mike, Glenn and Craig, but there were some moments where Mike and me were gapped and only reconnected when the others stopped at a stop sign. I guess they had some mercy on us, but from that point I finally did a couple of turns on the front in the last miles and then was dropped again approaching Grogan. I felt my right quadriceps twitch a couple of times like it wanted to fire off a cramp so I backed off just a little and lost the front three.

Training wise I am not sure about these type of rides when I look at the data. It shows a lot of time in L1 and yes there was a lot of coasting and easy pedaling, but sitting here right now I feel like I just did an aggressive paced century. I am pooped and my legs are cooked. Tomorrow those 2x60 intervals might end up being an easy paced recovery ride.

Great riding with the guys today!! Always fun with this gang.

Weather:                                                                          
 Great weather, partly cloudy with a breeze and headwind at times, From 66 (F) to 88 (F)

Nutrition Intake During and after the Course:             

24 oz from Bottle #1 water, BCAA, Glutamine, maltodextrin, Beta-alanine
24 oz from Bottle #2 water, BCAA, Glutamine, maltodextrin, Beta-alanine
Hammer gel @ mile 20
Cliff Bar @ mile 30
Hammer gel @ mile 50
Post Ride | 30 gram protein drink
Home | grilled chicken breast wrap

Bike:                                                                                  

LOOK 585,  Garmin 800, PowerTap G3, HED Belgium, Conti GP4000s @ 95 psi 

Overall Power Data:                                                        
Entire workout (123 watts):
Duration: 3:59:13 (4:13:03)
Work: 1761 kJ
TSS: 238.7 (intensity factor 0.775)
Norm Power: 171
VI: 1.39
Distance: 65.424 mi
Min Max Avg
Power: 0 644 123 watts
Cadence: 1 254 69 rpm
Speed: 0 40.6 16.4 mph
Pace 1:29 0:00 3:39 min/mi
Crank Torque: 0 1720 150 lb-in
Temperature: 60.8 86 71.0 Fahrenheit
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Stopping - We Abide in traffic laws

Keith and Mike Q.

Single file pace line on a busy road

Neal always sporting good fitness

Country Roads

Gary in action

Gary appears ready to bump up the action on this hill